Mark Hamade

Have you thought about the outside of your home for energy efficiency? Landscaping a home can be done in such a way as to allow for benefits in the energy department. In fact, you can save about 25% of your household energy consumption with a landscaping design that incorporates just the right placement of trees. By planting trees strategically near your home, you can save energy and money heating and cooling your home.

Reduce Wind Chill Factor For Your Home

If you have any idea of what wind chill is, you can see another benefit of trees. The wind chill is the way that the wind cools things down. In the winter months, the wind chill is a secondary temperature. While the actual temperature can be 20 degrees F, the wind chill can knock it down considerably, making it feel as if it is much colder than it really is. When you add a tree, shrubs or other structures outside of your home, the wind is stopped and can not hit the home, therefore, reducing the wind chill factor for your home.

Consume Less Fuel When Heating Your Home

If you install what are called windbreaks (or any item that can stop the wind before it hits the home) you can reap benefits of up to 40% less fuel consumption in heating your home. If you live in a very windy area, you can lose even more, up to one third, of your winter fuel costs in this manner.

Less Need for Air Conditioning

In the summer time, you will reap the rewards of cooler air. This happens due to evapotranspiration (the process of the tree moving and letting off water vapor) and shading from the tree. It can lower the temperature up to nine degrees.

In a shaded area underneath a large tree, the temperature can be as much as 25 degrees F cooler than it is just above a layer of blacktop on your street. All of this equals about 15% to up to 50% of lower need for air conditioning in the summer months. This can keep your costs down considerably.

Trees are beautiful. Not only can they add to the value of your property, but they can also save you energy. With trees near your home you will use less energy to heat and cool your home. Energy savings can save you money.